Get a glimpse of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo's tearful “Wicked” auditions

Behind-the-scenes footage from the upcoming two-part musical shows the actresses embracing their roles as Glinda and Elphaba.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have both walked a long yellow brick road to starring in the upcoming Wicked movies. New behind-the-scenes footage for the two-part film features interviews with the actresses, as well as director Jon M. Chu, and even some emotional clips of their auditions.

All three creatives say that Wicked is a longtime passion project for them. Grande recalls seeing the original Broadway cast of Wicked (which starred Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth) when she was 10 years old and feeling "an immediate bond." An archival interview clip shows a young Grande being asked which Wicked lead role she would prefer, and immediately choosing "Glinda" — the role she's now playing.

Related: Everything we know about the Wicked movie(s)

The video shows footage from Erivo and Grande's auditions for the film, cleverly mashing them up with film footage. For instance, Erivo talking about "getting the call to come in" is played over a clip of Elphaba arriving for her first day at Shiz University.

We also see Chu delivering the good news to Grande and Erivo that they had been cast. It was clearly an emotional experience for all involved.

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"The world needs to see more of you. We would love you to be our Elphaba," Chu told Erivo, who immediately broke down crying at the news.

In a different clip, Chu tells Grande, "We want you to be our Glinda the Good." She also started crying.

"Thank you; I love her so much," Grande tearfully responded. "I'm going to take such good care of her." She certainly seems to be living up to that promise, dying her hair blonde and even talking like Glinda in interviews.

Related: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo insisted on singing live in Wicked movie: 'F--- the pre-records'

The clip also features footage from the film, including a brief clip of Jeff Goldblum's Wizard of Oz playing a charming magic trick on Erivo's Elphaba and Grande's Glinda.

Based on the 2003 Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz, which was adapted from the Gregory Maguire novel of the same name, which, in turn, was a riff on L. Frank Baum's Oz novels, Wicked is the story of the lifelong friendship between the Wicked Witch of the West (here given the name Elphaba, in tribute to Baum's initials) and the Good Witch of the North. In addition to Erivo, Grande, and Goldblum, the two movies are also set to star Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Peter Dinklage, and Ethan Slater.

Watch the full video below.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.